As a general rule, the men of Rosewood are, well, kind of creepy. Some are creepier than others, some used to be creepy but have since redeemed themselves, and a few exceptions are simply good guys…for now, anyway. Trust them at your own risk. In honor of the Pretty Little Liars’ winter premiere (set to air on ABC Family tonight), we present to you a ranking of the PLL guys on a scale of best to creepiest - starting with the best.
1. Caleb Rivers (Tyler Blackburn)
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Caleb has been nothing but supportive of our girls – especially Hanna. His priority has always been protecting her. The creepiest thing he ever did was leave Rosewood for the failed spinoff, Ravenswood, where he dealt with ghosts or some such nonsense. We’re just glad he’s back! He proves the men of PLL aren’t ALL bad.
2. Jake (Ryan Guzman)
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Jake was nice. We liked Jake. What happened to Jake? Sure, he was meant to be a rebound guy for Aria, but he could’ve been so much more. He was a martial arts instructor (hot) and he warned Aria about Ezra (smart).
3. Mike Montgomery (Cody Allen Christian)
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Remember when Aria’s little bro went through a phase of breaking and entering? It was a more a cry for attention than actual creepiness, though. The creepiest thing he’s done is date Mona, but he genuinely liked her for some reason.
4. Travis Hobbs (Luke Kleintank)
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Travis was Hanna’s fairly innocuous rebound boyfriend – until she realized that Caleb is the best and there’s no sense pretending otherwise. He was a caring and understanding guy while he lasted, though.
5. Toby Cavanaugh (Keegan Allen)
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Toby started out as a seriously suspicious character. He was a social outcast who had an affair with his step-sister. Then just as he started to show Spencer his sweet side, he was unmasked as one of A’s minions (that black hoodie reveal, though)! He only did it to protect the girls and all is quickly forgiven (even though the whole debacle put Spencer in a MENTAL INSTITUTION). Now he’s a cop.
6. Jason DiLaurentis (Drew Van Acker)
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He’s a past drug abuser with questionable motives and a contentious relationship with his half-sister Alison. But then again, who doesn’t have a contentious relationship with Ali? We still can’t get a read on this guy, but he’s intriguing nonetheless.
7. Lucas Gottesman (Brendon Robinson)
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Lucas started out as a sweet nerd with an unrequited crush on Hanna. Somewhere along the way he started helping Mona with her dirty work and went from sweet nerd to shady nerd.
8. Wren Kingston (Julian Morris)
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This guy’s a doctor so he’s supposed to be somewhat intelligent, right? So why has he kissed not one, but two underage girls (Spencer and Hanna)? Are there seriously not enough of-age women in this town? Also, he seemingly knows more about "A" than he lets on.
9. Noel Kahn (Brant Daugherty)
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What is Noel Kahn’s deal? Will we ever find out? He was one of the few people who knew Ali was alive the whole time. Why did she trust him? Should we trust him? Things were much simpler when Brant Daugherty was on Dancing with the Stars.
10. Det. Gabriel Holbrook (Sean Faris)
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Surprise, surprise. Another older dude with a thing for younger girls. Detective Holbrook has smooched both Hanna and Ali – and he continues to investigate the PLLers. How do you still have a badge, sir?
11. Det. Darren Wilden (Bryce Johnson)
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Detective Wilden was a creepy cop who thought good police work meant blackmailing teenage girls. He’s dead now, but we can’t say he didn’t get what was coming to him.
12. Zack (Steve Talley)
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We were always a bit suspicious about the way this coffee shop owner whisked Aria’s mom away to Austria. Then right before he could become Aria’s new step-daddy, he revealed himself to be a true creep. He got handsy with Hanna and was promptly kicked to the curb by Mama Montgomery. He was also decked by Caleb, once again proving our point that Caleb is the best.
13. Ezra Fitz (Ian Harding)
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Never in the history of teen dramas has there been a more glorified pedophile than Mr. Ezra Fitz. He starts an affair with Aria, his teenage student, basically just so he can dig up dirt on all her friends for a book he’s writing. But at least he’s not "A," right? Why is this guy not in jail?!
We can agree they're all pretty hot though, right? Who do YOU think is the creepiest PLL guy? Tell us on Twitter!
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Pretty Little Liars star Julian Morris has stripped off for a saucy magazine spread. The 30-year-old hunk, who plays Wren Kingston on the teen drama, bares his butt for the Wonderland editorial, posing completely nude in the shot with just a towel to preserve his modesty.
Morris also opens up about his personal life to the British publication, insisting, "I love sex. I love having sex."

Well, that's a wrap, y'all. From The Evil Dead to The East, the 2013 SXSW festival gave us a mix of movies as cool and eclectic as the city of Austin. While there aren't enough hours in the day to see all the movies that the fest has to offer (damn you, daylight savings!) we gladly woke up and shot out of bed faster than you can say "breakfast burrito" to catch as many as possible. Even though there were some premieres that downright disappointed (you're not incredible even a little bit, Burt Wonderstone), there were others that downright wowed us (we'll remember Short Term 12 for a long while).
RELATED: 'Short Term 12' Cast Reflects On Their Award-Winning SXSW Film
While the the Grand Jury Prize and audience awards have already been given out (we weren't kidding when we said Short Term 12 was good), Hollywood.com picked our favorites — and least favorites — of the SXSW film festival. Whether it's returning festival favorites like Before Midnight or unexpectedly great newcomers like Scenic Route, here's how Hollywood.com saw SXSW.
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Best Drama: Short Term 12 (Runner up: Scenic Route)
Best Comedy: Drinking Buddies (Runner-up: Good Vibrations)
Best Horror: Evil Dead (Runner-up: You're Next)
Best Festival Favorite: Before Midnight (Runner-up: Prince Avalanche)
Hottest Ticket: Spring Breakers (Runner-up: Don Jon)
Best Post-Screening Q&amp;A: The East, if only for Ellen Page's use of the word "vagine."
Biggest Audience Reaction: Green Day introducing Broadway Idiot.
Worst Movie at SXSW: The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (Runner-up: I Give it a Year)
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[Photo credit: Sony Pictures Classic]
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Despite starring in movies with big cultural impacts, like Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown, and, of course, the Twilight saga, Nikki Reed has never been able to completely watch one of her films. That was until she went to Austin for the SXSW Film Festival.
Reed —along with her co-star Thomas Dekker, writer/co-director Victor Teran and co-director Youssef Delara — premiered their psychological drama Snap to SXSW audiences, and the actress was thankful to have them (and her husband Paul McDonald) by her side.
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"I've never actually been able to successfully sit through a film premiere for a movie that I'm in," Reed admitted to Hollywood.com during an interview at SXSW. "I'm overly self-conscious and it makes me nervous and I can't really enjoy the film. I basically held hands with Thomas and my husband on both sides." Reed added, "I will say, regardless of all of those horrible insecurities, I felt really proud and really excited to be a part of this."
Snap follows the story of Jim, a talented dubstep musician suffering from schizophrenia (played by Jake Hoffman), who meets and falls for a social worker named Wendy. Their relationship quickly takes a turn for the worse when the voices in Jim's head (shown as a physical manifestation named Jake, played by Dekker) get louder and louder, and Wendy and all those around Jim fear for his life and their own.
"It's a stimulating and provoking picture, ultimately we wanted to take people on a journey," Delara told Hollywood.com. Teran, who worked with Delara on 2012's Filly Brown added, "[Snap] explores the voices that we all have in our heads, not necessarily just with schizophrenics: the negative voice that everybody has, the voice of insecurity."
Just as the experience for the moviegoer is a challenging one, it certainly challenged the actors during the movie-making process as well. For Dekker, Snap was a welcome change of pace. "I've played the victim so much more than playing the instigator, so that was new for me. [It] was such a release of energy with this rage and with this attitude. It was intense, but in a pleasurable way," the actor said, adding, "whereas I think it was a little different for Nikki."
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Reed said that while she would make a film like Snap again, she struggled with the subject matter and the intense nature of the movie. "It was really kind of a disturbing process for me, and I didn't even realize that until I was done," the actress said. "It's funny how the people around you can understand. Like, my mom said, 'I'm so happy you're done with that movie,' just because everyone else is so affected by what you're going through."
"Wendy is constantly questioning who she is and what she's doing, the choices she's making. Was that appropriate? Was that inappropriate? Everything about her became everything about what I was doing in my performance," Reed said. "That's who I became, I was questioning everything I was doing. It was a hard place to be in for so long."
Still, despite how hard the process was, the choice was a no-brainer for Reed post-Twilight phenomenon. "Twilight was a huge part of my life...I don't feel the need to quickly let that go and kick that to the curb, but I'm always drawn to good material, and this was easily one of the best scripts I've read in my career," she said of signing on for Snap.
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Another thing that made Reed happy about the project was the role of Wendy itself. "As a girl, you don't normally find such complex characters written for women, where it's not about sexuality, and it's not about being pretty." Reed said, "That was something I really appreciated about this."
[Photo credit: John Sciulli/Getty Images]
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Timing, and timeliness, is everything. Especially when it comes to films. No one is more aware of that than Kieran Evans, the writer/director of Kelly + Victor, and its two leads Antonia Campbell-Hughes and Julian Morris, respectively. While their harrowing indie drama was filmed over the course of around six weeks (in what Morris described as "a hot, lovely summer in Liverpool"), it began to hit the festival circuit in late 2012 and early 2013 — including here at SXSW — right when the Fifty Shades of Grey frenzy hit a fever pitch.
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So how does E.L. James soapy saga factor into Kelly + Victor, Evans' big screen adaptation of Niall Griffiths' gritty novel of the same name? Kelly + Victor follows the story of a young couple who meet at a Liverpool nightclub and begin an intense emotional and sexual relationship, one that includes S&amp;M. But don't mistake Kelly and Victor for Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey: theirs is a thoughtful, more realistic, and ultimately tragic tale.
That doesn't mean Evans and his stars don't appreciate the timing though. "It's been surprising," the writer/director said. "American audiences are not usually open to this kind of topic. But I think with [Fifty Shades of Grey]...maybe it's a zeitgeist thing. With taboo sex, the lid is kind of being lifted. We seem to be in the right place at the right time."
For Campbell-Hughes, who plays the titular Kelly — a woman she described as seeing as "a puppy that keeps getting kicked... it's sweet, but it will bite back" — exploring her character's intrigue with S&amp;M had no taboos. "I met Kieran and I knew it was going to be handled well," she said. "The rawness of it is the fact that its very honest."
"Nudity has never really bothered me that much, but I'm learning it should more," the actress added. "It's not about how much you see, its about how it's shown. The movies that we see all the time are filled with violence and nudity, but its sort of saccharine, it's glorified, its fake, its glycerin, it's horrible."
RELATED: 'Short Term 12' Cast Reflects on Their SXSW Grand Jury Prize-Winning Film
While Kelly and Victor's sexual relationship, one which does not shy away from realism, is a major aspect of the film, it's the emotional one that really drives the film. (And, much like 2012's sex drama Shame, while Kelly + Victor has plenty of sex, it can often be decidedly un-sexy and hard to watch at times).
That very relationship at the core of the film — which Morris (who describes his character Victor as "quite a gentle soul" who finds his outlet in Kelly, while Campbell-Hughes sees him as someone who "gets off... on stepping into the void") likened to "obsessive love they have for each other, this frantic physicality that you get in any sort of new relationship when you're just clawing at each other" — is what drew the stars and the writer/director to the project the most. "What's interesting is the relationship between Kelly and Victor isn't about the consequences of S&amp;M," Evans said, "It's about the consequences of what they do and what happens if two atoms collide at such a great speed. "
Another aspect that played into the film, was what Morris described as a "massive character" in the film: the city of Liverpool. "This [shoot] was really unique because to get that essence of Liverpool and the characters for it to be quite engulfing, we really lived Liverpool and the characteristics of the people. That's where the intensity was, it was everywhere in Liverpool,"Campbell-Hughes said, adding that the location is much like an analogy for Kelly and Victor's love: "Liverpool is shown as such a beautiful place, but its full of cracks."
RELATED: SXSW Review: 'Good Vibrations' is a Heartfelt Ode to the Power of Music
The actress also described "Kelly and Victor are wanderers in their home land" and Morris himself took to wandering the streets of Liverpool to get into character, both for Victor and the city itself, by going on a pub crawl. "It was the most informative thing to me, under the slight haze of alcohol," he said. "I met the local lads, got down the dialect, [learned] the politics, just walked around."
But, in the end, the film is not about S&amp;M, or Liverpool, or even relationships. It is, as Evans simply said: "Ultimately the whole thing is about human needs."
[Photo credit: SXSW]
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David Mitchell's novel Cloud Atlas consists of six stories set in various periods between 1850 and a time far into Earth's post-apocalyptic future. Each segment lives on its own the previous first person account picked up and read by a character in its successor creating connective tissue between each moment in time. The various stories remain intact for Tom Tykwer's (Run Lola Run) Lana Wachowski's and Andy Wachowski's (The Matrix) film adaptation which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival. The massive change comes from the interweaving of the book's parts into one three-hour saga — a move that elevates the material and transforms Cloud Atlas in to a work of epic proportions.
Don't be turned off by the runtime — Cloud Atlas moves at lightning pace as it cuts back and forth between its various threads: an American notary sailing the Pacific; a budding musician tasked with transcribing the hummings of an accomplished 1930's composer; a '70s-era investigatory journalist who uncovers a nefarious plot tied to the local nuclear power plant; a book publisher in 2012 who goes on the run from gangsters only to be incarcerated in a nursing home; Sonmi~451 a clone in Neo Seoul who takes on the oppressive government that enslaves her; and a primitive human from the future who teams with one of the few remaining technologically-advanced Earthlings in order to survive. Dense but so was the unfamiliar world of The Matrix. Cloud Atlas has more moving parts than the Wachowskis' seminal sci-fi flick but with additional ambition to boot. Every second is a sight to behold.
The members of the directing trio are known for their visual prowess but Cloud Atlas is a movie about juxtaposition. The art of editing is normally a seamless one — unless someone is really into the craft the cutting of a film is rarely a post-viewing talking point — but Cloud Atlas turns the editor into one of the cast members an obvious player who ties the film together with brilliant cross-cutting and overlapping dialogue. Timothy Cavendish the elderly publisher could be musing on his need to escape and the film will wander to the events of Sonmi~451 or the tortured music apprentice Robert Frobisher also feeling the impulse to run. The details of each world seep into one another but the real joy comes from watching each carefully selected scene fall into place. You never feel lost in Cloud Atlas even when Tykwer and the Wachowskis have infused three action sequences — a gritty car chase in the '70s a kinetic chase through Neo Seoul and a foot race through the forests of future millennia — into one extended set piece. This is a unified film with distinct parts echoing the themes of human interconnectivity.
The biggest treat is watching Cloud Atlas' ensemble tackle the diverse array of characters sprinkled into the stories. No film in recent memory has afforded a cast this type of opportunity yet another form of juxtaposition that wows. Within a few seconds Tom Hanks will go from near-neanderthal to British gangster to wily 19th century doctor. Halle Berry Hugh Grant Jim Sturgess Jim Broadbent Ben Whishaw Hugo Weaving and Susan Sarandon play the same game taking on roles of different sexes races and the like. (Weaving as an evil nurse returning to his Priscilla Queen of the Desert cross-dressing roots is mind-blowing.) The cast's dedication to inhabiting their roles on every level helps us quickly understand the worlds. We know it's Halle Berry behind the fair skinned wife of the lunatic composer but she's never playing Halle Berry. Even when the actors are playing variations on themselves they're glowing with the film's overall epic feel. Jim Broadbent's wickedly funny modern segment a Tykwer creation that packs a particularly German sense of humor is on a smaller scale than the rest of the film but the actor never dials it down. Every story character and scene in Cloud Atlas commits to a style. That diversity keeps the swirling maelstrom of a movie in check.
Cloud Atlas poses big questions without losing track of its human element the characters at the heart of each story. A slower moment or two may have helped the Wachowskis' and Tykwer's film to hit a powerful emotional chord but the finished product still proves mainstream movies can ask questions while laying over explosive action scenes. This year there won't be a bigger movie in terms of scope in terms of ideas and in terms of heart than Cloud Atlas.
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It’s finally here! Just in time for the most magical month of all, Once Upon a Time has returned to our lives and it was definitely worth the wait. Audiences received plenty of answers in the Season 2 premiere, but in true Storybrooke style, we were left with about a thousand more questions. From new characters, to new villains, and bittersweet reunions, OUAT’s Season 2 premiere was beyond enchanting. So put down that apple, take off your one glass slipper, and get comfortable on a magic carpet because we’re here to catch you up on all the fairytale fodder you may have missed.
The episode begins in a truly curious way. The first two minutes centered on a mystery man, played by True Blood’s Michael Raymond-James, walking in New York to his apartment. Not gonna lie, I thought I had the wrong channel at first and quickly in a panic I checked to see that yes, I was indeed watching the season premiere of Once. The man enters his apartment and after seeing that it has begun to rain, he tries to shut his window. However, just as he was about to close it, a pigeon brings him a postcard from Strorybrooke with one word scrawled on the back: “Broken.”
Now that the curse has been broken, Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin), Charming (Josh Dallas), and the rest of the fairytale characters have regained their past memories in addition to their Storybrooke ones. Their reunions with one another were oh-so sweet, but by far the best moment was watching Emma (Jennifer Morrison) meet her royal parents officially for the first time. I was smiling from ear to ear when Snow exclaimed, “You found us!” with tears in her eyes, and when Henry (Jared Gilmore) called Charming “grandpa,” I’m pretty sure my heart exploded with happiness. Snow and Charming are thrilled to see their baby girl, but Emma is not exactly jumping for joy. She says, “I’ve thought about this moment my entire life. I’ve imagined who you might be, but of all the scenarios I concocted, my parents being… I just need a little time.” Hey, if I just found out that my parents were perhaps the most famous fairytale characters of all time, I’d need a few minutes to process that as well. Later in the episode, after a motherly push from Snow, Emma revealed the true reason she is not thrilled to finally meet her parents, “No matter what the circumstances, for 28 years I only knew one thing: That my parents sent me away.” Emma knows that her Snow and Charming did the right thing by sending her to this world but she admits that “it doesn’t change the fact that for my entire life I’ve been alone.”
The Blue Fairy confirms that there is now magic in Storybrooke, but, unfortunately, without the use of fairy dust or a wand, there is nothing that she or anyone else can do. Dr. Whales (David Anders) has rallied the whole every one into a frenzy and they storm through town home in hopes of killing Regina (Lana Parrilla) for all of the evil that she has inflicted upon their lives. But after Henry’s cry for help, “Please! She’s still my mom,” Emma makes a promise to help protect the queen. The town decides it’s best to lock up Regina so that she cannot harm the people of Storybrooke, but it seems that won’t be a problem because Regina doesn’t have her powers either. A new twist in the story is revealed when Charming does not recognize Dr. Whales. The so-called doctor snaps at him, “You’re not my prince!” and it looks like we’ll just have to wait to find out who this second mystery character is. We soon learn that the characters are stuck in this world because according to Regina, the curse destroyed everything in fairyland. “There is nothing to go back to. That land is gone.” Regina says with a smug smile. Little does she know, she is beyond wrong.
Over in the fairy world, we experience some some major déjà vu. A handsome prince rushes forward to save his beautiful sleeping princess with True Love’s kiss. No it’s not Snow and Charming 2.0. We quickly learn that this classic couple is Prince Philip (Julian Morris) and Aurora (Sarah Bolger), aka Sleeping Beauty. Their beautifully sweet reunion is quickly interrupted when a dark creature appears (almost identical to a dementor from Harry Potter) and Prince Phillip, with the help of his battle buddy Mulan (Jamie Chung) fights it away. Mulan explains that the clouded figure, known as a “Wraith” is one of the most dangerous creatures in all the known land. Mulan reveals, “According to legend, it marks its victims and removes their souls, damning them for all eternity.” Unfortunately in his battle with the wrath it appears that Prince Phillip was burned with the wraith’s mark. In order to save the girls, Phillip sneaks away from their camp to face the wraith on his own. Mulan and Auroras set off to find Philip and we soon learn Mulan’s ulterior motives: She also loves Philip. Unfortunately there is nothing the three can do and the Wraith steals Phillip's soul.
Back in Storybrooke, it's revealed that Belle (Emilie de Ravin) was abducted and locked away in the asylum for 28 years. All this time, Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle) thought his beloved was dead, so you can imagine the rage he felt upon learning that Regina had locked away the only person he had ever loved. Belle begs him not to use magic for revenge. “Promise me you won’t give into your hate, promise me you won’t kill her,” she pleads and reluctantly Rumple agrees not to lay a hand on Regina. Although Rumple promised he would not harm Regina, he didn’t say anything about finding someone, or should I say something that could. Rumple summoned the Wraith to Storybrooke and a burned Regina with the mark to be its next victim. But when Belle found out the evil that Rumple brought to the land she was devastated to know that he twisted the truth from her: “You toy with words, like you do people.”
After helping Regina narrowly escape the wraiths attack in the Sherriff’s staion, Emma, Charming, and Snow quickly learn that there is no way to kill the creature. Regina confirms, “You can’t kill something that is already dead.” So Regina comes up with a plan to send the wraith away to another dimension and she brings out Jefferson’s (Sebastian Stan) highly sought-after hat from the first season. The Wraith returns and while Charming is doing his best to fight the evil spirit (“Light is its advisory”), Regina is failing to get the hat to begin its magic spin. It only takes one light touch from Emma to power jolt the hat and we get our first clue that there is an immense amount of magic locked inside her. The Wraith is sent into the tornado of purple haze, but unfortunately Emma is also sucked into the vortex. Snow, determined not to lose her daughter for a second time, jumps in after her. Charming does the same, but it’s too late — the portal has closed and he is left in Storybrooke. The prince angrily confronts Regina, demanding to know where his wife and daughter have been sent. But little does he know Regina has her powers back. Just as she was about to choke the life out of Charming, Henry enters the room and says that he will have absolutely nothing to do with her until she brings them back. Charming tells his grandson that he will bring Emma and Snow back, uttering a familiar but just as powerful promise, “I will find them, I will always find them.”
Over in the fairy world, we see a heartbroken Mulan and Aurora standing over Phillip’s lifeless body. Mulan explains what terrible things have happened in their world while Aurora was asleep: It turns out all of fairyland was wiped out with the curse, except for one small part. Mulan says, “This corner of the land was untouched, no one knows why, but something saved us and for 28 years we were frozen.” However, last year. when Emma entered Stroybrooke, the characters in fairyland were finally unfrozen and they found a safe haven away from the new evils that the roam the land. Mulan and Aurora heard a rustling from underneath a pile of rubble and we soon see that Emma and Snow are lying in Fairyland completely unconscious. Mulan points at the girls exclaiming, “That is what brought the wraith here, that’s what killed our prince.”
What did you think of the whirlwind Season 2 premiere of Once Upon a Time? Who do you think the mystery man is? Are you excited to meet more fairytale creatures? Cast your spell in the comments below!
Follow Leanne on Twitter @LeanneAguilera
[Photo Credit: ABC]
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There is something particularly unnerving about demon possession. It's the idea of something you can't see or control creeping into your body and taking up residence eventually obliterating all you once were and turning you into nothing more than a sack of meat to be manipulated. Then there's also the shrouded ritual around exorcisms: the Latin chants the flesh-sizzling crucifixes and the burning Holy Water. As it turns out exorcism isn't just the domain of Catholics.
The myths and legends of the Jews aren't nearly as well known but their creepy dybbuk goes toe-to-toe with anything other world religions come up with. There are various interpretations of what a dybbuk is or where it comes from — is it a ghost a demon a soul of a sinner? — but in any case it's looking for a body to hang out in for a while. Especially according to the solemn Hasidic Jews in The Possession an innocent young person and even better a young girl.
The central idea in The Possession is that a fancy-looking wooden box bought at a garage sale was specifically created to house a dybbuk that was tormenting its previous owner. Unfortunately it caught the eye of young Emily (Natasha Calis) a sensitive artistic girl who persuades her freshly divorced dad Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan of Watchmen and Grey's Anatomy) to buy it for her. Never mind the odd carvings on it — that would be Hebrew — or how it's created without seams so it would be difficult to open or why it's an object of fascination for a young girl; Clyde is trying really hard to please his disaffected daughters and do the typical freshly divorced parent dance of trying to please them no matter the cost.
Soon enough the creepy voices calling to Emily from the box convince her to open it up; inside are even creepier personal objects that are just harbingers of what's to come for her her older sister Hannah (Madison Davenport) her mom Stephanie (Kyra Sedgwick) and even Stephanie's annoying new boyfriend Brett (Grant Show). Clyde and Stephanie squabble over things like pizza for dinner and try to convince each other and themselves that Emily's increasingly odd behavior is that of a troubled adolescent. It's not of course and eventually Clyde enlists the help of the son of a Hasidic rabbi a young man named Tzadok played by the former Hasidic reggae musician Matisyahu to help them perform an exorcism on Emily.
The Possession is not going to join the ranks of The Exorcist in the horror pantheon but it does do a remarkable job of making its characters intelligent and even occasionally droll and it offers up plenty of chills despite a PG-13 rating. Perhaps it's because of that rating that The Possession is so effective; the filmmakers are forced to make the benign scary. Giant moths and flying Torahs take the place of little Reagan violently masturbating with a crucifix in The Exorcist. Gagging and binging on food is also an indicator of Emily's possession — an interesting twist given the anxieties of becoming a woman a girl Emily's age would face. There is something inside her controlling her and she knows it and she is fighting it. The most impressive part of Calis's performance is how she communicates Emily's torment with a few simple tears rolling down her face as the dybbuk's control grows. The camerawork adds to the anxiety; one particularly scary scene uses ordinary glass kitchenware to great effect.
The Possession is a short 92 minutes and it does dawdle in places. It seems as though some of the scenes were juggled around to make the PG-13 cut; the moth infestation scene would have made more sense later in the movie. Some of the problems are solved too quickly or simply and yet it also takes a while for Clyde's character to get with it. Stephanie is a fairly bland character; she makes jewelry and yells at Clyde for not being present in their marriage a lot and then there's a thing with a restraining order that's pretty silly. Emily is occasionally dressed up like your typical horror movie spooky girl with shadowed eyes an over-powdered face and dark clothes; it's much more disturbing when she just looks like an ordinary though ill young girl. The scenes in the heavily Hasidic neighborhood in Brooklyn look oddly fake and while it's hard to think of who else could have played Tzadok an observant Hasidic Jew who is also an outsider willing to take risks the others will not Matisyahu is not a very good actor. Still the filmmakers should be commended for authenticity insofar as Matisyahu has studied and lived as a Hasidic Jew.
It would be cool if Lionsgate and Ghost House Pictures were to release the R-rated version of the movie on DVD. What the filmmakers have done within the confines of a PG-13 rating is creepy enough to make me curious to see the more adult version. The Possession is no horror superstar and its name is all too forgettable in a summer full of long-gestating horror movies quickly pushed out the door. It's entertaining enough and could even find a broader audience on DVD. Jeffrey Dean Morgan can read the Old Testament to me any time.

There's probably still someone somewhere that would fall for one of Sacha Baron Cohen's weird and wooly scenarios but let's face the facts: the days when Ali G. could snag an interview with Pat Buchanan or Gore Vidal are long gone. 2009's Bruno definitely let some steam out of Borat's tires not to mention the ensuing lawsuits. But it's refreshing to see Cohen and his Borat/Bruno cohort director Larry Charles flex their muscles in the fictional universe of The Dictator a vehicle that doesn't skimp on their signature cringe-worthy humor.
The world of The Dictator gives them the leeway to create crazy spectacles — at one point Cohen's General Aladeen rides down Fifth Avenue on a camel surrounded by a giant motorcade. Having a plot helps too; although part of the genius of Sacha Baron Cohen's schtick is how the viewer is made culpable by proxy by our amusement and horror at how he tricks and torments people who aren't in on the joke The Dictator continues the self-reflexive satirical bite. We're certainly not off the hook. Aladeen says and does truly outrageous things but they're also exaggerations of the world we live in. It might be a stretch to call Sacha Baron Cohen the British Lenny Bruce or George Carlin in a face merkin but rest assured that no topic is off limits. If you are offended by jokes about abortion rape feminists body hair race religion politics STDs war crimes ethnic cleansing necrophilia and/or bestiality don't even bother. However if you like the kind of comedy that makes you hide your face in your hands feeling like each laugh is being pried from you against your will you're in business.
Cohen eats up the screen as both General Aladeen and his incredibly dumb body double; the latter prefers the intimate company of one of his goats to a human while the former is a fairly stupid ruthless dictator whose own people are so disloyal to him that they actually ignore his commands to execute people. (He really likes to execute people.) When he arrives in New York City to attend a summit at the UN his uncle Tamir (Ben Kingsley) has the two switched so he can easily manipulate the "General" into signing a treaty to make Wadiya a democracy and reap the financial benefits. Aladeen finds refuge with Zoe a hairy-pitted activist who thinks he's a political dissident and is excited to be able to give him a safe haven in her touchy-feely Brooklyn grocery co-op. Instead of being typecast as another blonde dummy Anna Faris is finally given room to play as the wide-eyed naïf who takes Aladeen's very serious statements as jokes or simple miscommunications. She's a great foil to Baron Cohen who is easily half a foot taller than she is and has a wolfish grin. Their banter is often the most politically incorrect of the bunch but also the funniest.
Alas the plot. It's a bare bones situation to get a very broad character from A to B. Aladeen is obviously an outlandish mishmash of modern dictators; he spouts racist misogynist rhetoric endlessly and after a while...yeah we get it. However like all of Sacha Baron Cohen's humor The Dictator also takes a direct shot at Western countries (specifically the United States) which would be all fine and dandy if he didn't wedge an expository speech in about it as well. The problem with making a traditional narrative movie is that with some exceptions you've got to play within the guidelines. The Dictator isn't trying to do anything fancy; all it needs a few big beats and a neat ending to wrap it all up. It doesn't quite manage to tie it all together in a way that makes The Dictator more than an hour and a half or so of laughing and cringing.
Besides Faris and Kingsley there are a number of cameos by a very wide variety of comics and actors. Megan Fox plays herself Kevin Corrigan appears as a creepy dude who works at the co-op John C. Reilly is a racist security guard and Fred Armisen runs an anti-Aladeen café in New York's Little Wadiya district. The very funny Jason Mantzoukas has a large role as Nadal the former head of rocket science who was supposedly executed for not making Aladeen's nuclear warhead pointy. It's a good ensemble and hopefully Sacha Baron Cohen's next feature-length film will build on The Dictator's weaknesses.

In a post-Harry Potter Avatar and Lord of the Rings world the descriptors "sci-fi" and "fantasy" conjure up particular imagery and ideas. The Hunger Games abolishes those expectations rooting its alternate universe in a familiar reality filled with human characters tangible environments and terrifying consequences. Computer graphics are a rarity in writer/director Gary Ross' slow-burn thriller wisely setting aside effects and big action to focus on star Jennifer Lawrence's character's emotional struggle as she embarks on the unthinkable: a 24-person death match on display for the entire nation's viewing pleasure. The final product is a gut-wrenching mature young adult fiction adaptation diffused by occasional meandering but with enough unexpected choices to keep audiences on their toes.
Panem a reconfigured post-apocalyptic America is sectioned off into 12 unique districts and ruled under an iron thumb by the oppressive leaders of The Capitol. To keep the districts producing their specific resources and prevent them from rebelling The Capitol created The Hunger Games an annual competition pitting two 18-or-under "tributes" from each district in a battle to the death. During the ritual tribute "Reaping " teenage Katniss (Lawrence) watches as her 12-year-old sister Primrose is chosen for battle—and quickly jumps to her aid becoming the first District 12 citizen to volunteer for the games. Joined by Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) a meek baker's son and the second tribute Effie the resident designer and Haymitch a former Hunger Games winner-turned-alcoholic-turned-mentor Katniss rides off to The Capitol to train and compete in the 74th Annual Hunger Games.
The greatest triumph of The Hunger Games is Ross' rich realization of the book's many worlds: District 12 is painted as a reminiscent Southern mining town haunting and vibrant; The Capitol is a utopian metropolis obsessed with design and flair; and The Hunger Games battleground is a sprawling forest peppered with Truman Show-esque additions that remind you it's all being controlled by overseers. The small-scale production value adds to the character-first approach and even when the story segues to larger arenas like a tickertape parade in The Capitol's grand Avenue of Tributes hall it's all about Katniss.
For fans the script hits every beat a nearly note-for-note interpretation of author Suzanne Collins' original novel—but those unfamiliar shouldn't worry about missing anything. Ross knows his way around a sharp screenplay (he's the writer of Big Pleasantville and Seabiscuit) and he's comfortable dropping us right into the action. His characters are equally as colorful as Panem Harrelson sticking out as the former tribute enlivened by the chance to coach winners. He's funny he's discreet he's shaded—a quality all the cast members share. As a director Ross employs a distinct often-grating perspective. His shaky cam style emphasizes the reality of the story but in fight scenarios—and even simple establishing shots of District 12's goings-on—the details are lost in motion blur.
But the dread of the scenario is enough to make Hunger Games an engrossing blockbuster. The lead-up to the actual competition is an uncomfortable and biting satire of reality television sports and everything that commands an audience in modern society. Katniss' brooding friend Gale tells her before she departs "What if nobody watched?" speculating that carnage might end if people could turn away. Unfortunately they can't—forcing Katniss and Peeta to become "stars" of the Hunger Games. The duo are pushed to gussy themselves up put on a show and play up their romance for better ratings. Lawrence channels her reserved Academy Award-nominated Winter's Bone character to inhabit Katniss' frustration with the system. She's great at hunting but she doesn't want to kill. She's compassionate and considerate but has no interest in bowing down to the system. She's a leader but she knows full well she's playing The Capitol's game. Even with 23 other contestants vying for the top spot—like American Idol with machetes complete with Ryan Seacrest stand-in Caesar Flickerman (the dazzling Stanley Tucci)—Katniss' greatest hurdle is internal. A brave move for a movie aimed at a young audience.
By the time the actual Games roll around (the movie clocks in at two and a half hours) there's a need to amp up the pace that never comes and The Hunger Games loses footing. Katniss' goal is to avoid the action hiding in trees and caves waiting patiently for the other tributes to off themselves—but the tactic isn't all that thrilling for those watching. Luckily Lawrence Hutcherson and the ensemble of young actors still deliver when they cross paths and particular beats pack all the punch an all-out deathwatch should. PG-13 be damned the film doesn't skimp on the bloodshed even when it comes to killing off children. The Hunger Games bites off a lot for the first film of a franchise and does so bravely and boldly. It may not make it to the end alive but it doesn't go down without a fight.
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